Raith Rovers captain Jason Thomson insisted a top-four finish is possible despite Saturday’s defeat in Dumfries.
A deserved 2-0 victory for third-placed Queen of the South took them seven points clear of the Kirkcaldy men, who are now also four points adrift of Hibs.
However, despite admitting that Rovers were outplayed in the live BBC Alba clash, Thomson is adamant Raith can still catch the teams above them.
“The game was obviously disappointing and the best team won,” he said.
“We just need to get more consistency. We’re win, lose, draw, whereas Queens are six unbeaten now that’s the consistency you need to get that play-off spot.
“There will be three or four teams looking at that fourth spot because I think most will be in agreement that Rangers, Hearts and Hibs will be the top three.
“Fourth spot is still something we’ll be looking to do. Everyone’s working hard in training and we’ve got a few boys back from injury.
“We’ve got a good squad. We just need to take it on to the park on Saturdays.”
Raith were looking for back-to-back league wins for the first time since the opening two weeks of the season, but were second best for most of the match at Palmerston.
Queens could have taken the lead inside two minutes as a training ground free-kick routine saw Chris Higgins’ shot blocked on the line before Ian McShane’s follow-up was tipped wide by David McGurn.
The home side took the lead in the 22nd minute when Paul Watson misjudged a high ball, allowing ex-Raith forward John Baird to pick up possession in space and drive the ball past McGurn from 20 yards.
It was almost 2-0 on 33 minutes as Mark Kerr’s free-kick into the danger area was volleyed wide by the inrushing Higgins.
Despite decent spells of possession, Rovers struggled to create any openings against a stubborn Queens defence.
The introduction of Mark Stewart, who replaced Calum Elliot early in the second half, brought some pace to the Raith attack, and he was unlucky to see a near-post strike bounce off the upright in the 61st minute.
Grant Anderson blazed the rebound high and wide.
That was the only real scare Queens had.
They made sure of the points in the 80th minute as Raith went to sleep from a throw-in, allowing Derek Lyle to cross for the unmarked Gavin Reilly to fire in off the bar from six yards.
Raith boss Grant Murray had no complaints with the result.
“You can’t have any complaints because you have to take your chances when you come to places like this,” he said.
“It’s difficult once you let teams go ahead because you have to push and they can hit you on the counter, and they got their second goal like that.
“What Queens have done gives us something to aim for.
“We wanted to put a bit of pressure on Queens. We’ve not done it, but we’ve got to pick the lads up for a massive Scottish Cup tie next week.”